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Published Oct. 04, 2006

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McGavick sees immigration as winning issue

BY BRAD SHANNON

THE OLYMPIAN

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick drew sharp differences Tuesday between himself and incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell on immigration policies, saying that the issue carries more passion with voters than even the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

McGavick, 48, a former Safeco Insurance executive and one-time political aide to a U.S. senator, said he favors constructing a 698-mile fence along portions of the Mexico border, an idea Cantwell voted against Friday.

He also favors English as the official language and wants new limits on Social Security earnings by illegal immigrants who later become citizens and are able to tap earnings from before their legal status.

He also made a pitch for voters to look beyond the two years left in President Bush's term and not vote for Cantwell as a way to protest the Republican-controlled Congress or the invasion of Iraq.

"You're electing someone for six years. Even if your total focus is to have someone trying to restrain President Bush, that's two years of six. I would argue that, in fact, you're going to have more impact on what goes on in the White House by having a Republican in the Senate from the Northwest than someone just outside the door," McGavick told The Olympian's Editorial Board. "I think it is more likely the Senate remains Republican than the House."

Despite trailing Sen. Cantwell by 10 percentage points in a McClatchy-MSNBC poll released last weekend, McGavick claimed he is gaining on the incumbent. Various polls have pegged him at anywhere from 4 to 17 percentage points behind Cantwell, but many showed him slipping in recent weeks.

His visit to the newspaper coincided with the airing of his new ads that say Washington, D.C., is "out of contr ol" and unable to face up to serious issues like health care and Social Security "going broke."

Cantwell and the state's other U.S. senator, Patty Murray, both voted against the border fence proposal.

Cantwell said in formal statements issued over the weekend that she had won approval for at least eight measures to improve security - including bills headed to Bush that tighten cargo security at ports, improve ferry security and test the use of unmanned vehicles along the northern U.S. border.

Cantwell response

Her campaign issued a statement Tuesday saying a 700-mile fence costing billions of dollars is not the best or most efficient way to invest in homeland security. Cantwell has said that she favors a comprehensive immigration policy that lets illegal residents apply for citizenship under a process that could include payment of fines and possibly a requirement that they go back to their mother country for a year.

In addition to the immigration measures he advocates - including fines for employers who hire illegal workers - McGavick said he wants to open the door to "knowledge workers," or those who have special talents or education.

For visiting students who excel in math and science areas in which the United States needs more workers, he joked he'd stamp diplomas with a green card and a message, "Welcome to America."

Other highlights of McGavick's comments:

When asked how much longer he'd keep troops in Iraq if the situation remained the same in six years, he said he "can't conceive of" the Iraq battle continuing that long. He called the question "a purely hypothetical judgment" that would require knowledge of future global conditions to answer.

He also rejected calls for setting timetables for U.S. troop withdrawals, and he compared the battle against radical terror groups to the decades-long battle against Communism in Europe, which he said took decades.

Cantwell has been in favor of starting to bring home troops by the end of the year.

McGavick said people understand when he tells them that sudden withdrawal of troops could lead to chaos and more bloodshed in Iraq.


He acknowledged the world is not necessarily safer after the invasion of Iraq and removal of Saddam Hussein, but said the lack of attacks on U.S. soil since 2001 is a sign of progress.

He accused Cantwell of running a carefully sheltered campaign that features only select, favorable appearances in public. He said she had gone from a "Rose Garden" campaign to a "recluse" campaign.
"She's trying to wait it out, hoping nothing happens. The nation deserves better than this. It's a critical time" in history, he said.


He said he would have voted for the detainee bill sent to President Bush last week, which Cantwell and Murray opposed.

The measure would block federal court access to foreign prisoners challenging their imprisonment and it lets the executive branch hold detainees indefinitely in cases of supporting anti-U.S. hostilities. It prohibits violations of the Geneva Conventions.

McGavick denied that the bill lets Bush define what constitutes torture, arguing that congressional intelligence committees will have oversight.


He criticized Cantwell for voting against a comprehensive tax bill that included a federal deduction for the Washington sales tax, reductions in the estate tax, and a higher minimum wage. Cantwell voted against the "trifecta" bill, because a "tip credit" clause could have let restaurants pay less than the minimum and use tips to make up the difference, although McGavick said a Department of Labor letter showed that would not happen in Washington, D.C.

He said he objects that Cantwell did not do more to seek an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on the "tip credit" issue, arguing that the tax bill's failure has cost the state its "last good chance" to save its sales-tax deduction this year.